Police tell escaper to give up

SOUGHT: Stephen Uriah Maddren was seen in a forestry block near the Otago Corrections Facility he escaped from, police say.

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Fugitive Stephen Maddren was only metres from the grasp of his pursuers just hours after he did a runner from the Otago Corrections Facility.

The inmate remains at large in spite of a search by authorities that is about to enter its fourth night.

It is understood that authorities saw Maddren on Tuesday night near the prison, but were distracted by the lights of an oncoming car and the escapee vanished into the darkness.

At the time, Maddren was less than 100m from people who were looking for him.

Searchers thought those in the car might have been coming to pick him up.

Fairfax Media has also learned that Maddren, 25, was being led from the prison reception to his cell when he escaped on Tuesday afternoon.

Department of Corrections is launching an inquiry into the escape.

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley has also promised a full review into how Maddren managed to escape while being led back to his cell.

Tolley, who was reporting to yesterday's meeting of the Law and Order select committee said Maddren was a remand prisoner, so the first question she would ask was why video links weren't being used for his appearance in court.

"You can risk-assess every prisoner and the staff can do their very best, but these are highly volatile, unpredictable people.

"These are not good people otherwise they would not have been charged and be waiting in prison," she told the committee.

Labour's correction spokeswoman Jacinda Ardern, also addressing the committee yesterday said Maddren, who escaped by scaling a downpipe and jumping off a three-story building, had made previous escape attempts.

Ardern said he was being transferred without handcuffs.

'IT'S GETTING TOO COLD'

Dunedin police searching for Maddren had a message for the fugitive: "Give up, it's getting too cold ... and we're going to get you in the end."

Maddren was last sighted in an overnight search of a forest area not far from the prison on Tuesday night.

Police converged on a house on State Highway 1 close to the facility early this morning when a resident heard sounds in her ceiling. That turned out to be a false alarm but the search continues, Police Area Response Manager, Senior Sgt Al Dickie said.